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Matt Dykstra, QMI Agency

Jan 23, 2014

, Last Updated: 8:47 AM ET

EDMONTON -- The theft of a unencrypted laptop in Edmonton means the personal health information of more than 620,000 Albertans may be compromised, an "outraged" Health Minister Fred Horne said Wednesday.

Medicentres notified Edmonton police and Alberta's Information Privacy Commissioner of the theft on Oct. 1, 2013, but Health Minister Fred Horne was outraged that his office was only just told on Tuesday, nearly four months later.

"I am, quite frankly, outraged that this would not have been reported to myself or my department sooner," Horne said.

"Let's be clear -- personal information has been compromised. The information was stored on a laptop in unencrypted form and, to my knowledge, the information has not been recovered."

The affected patients were seen at private walk-in clinics between May 2, 2011, and Sept. 19, 2013, Medicentres said, adding they have no information suggesting the stolen information has been accessed or misused.